Score: +3 (3/1/0)
Stanislaus County Grand Jury • 2001-2002 • Agency Response
Response to: The Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury Part Nine

Auditor-controller Larry D. Haugh Auditor - Controller*

Published: August 29, 2002 6 pages
Ver PDF original

Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F9, F10, F11, F12, F13, F14, F15, F17

Findings and Recommendations 10 findings

F1 Page 1
The Grand Jury received the full cooperation from the County and its employees in requests for information and documentation. The respondent agrees with the finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Page 3
The County continue to educate employees on purchase card policies and emphasize the necessity to reconcile, review, and approve the Transaction Detail Reports within ten (10) days of receipt. This should be the number one priority of each department. The recommendation has been implemented. The Internal Audit staff will continue to perform audits of the Purchasing Card Program. One of the audit steps includes an examination of the Transaction Detail Report. This examination checks for appropriate review of charges and will include substantiation of a timely review.
F2 Page 1
BBR validated the financial statements of the County which had been prepared by the Auditor-Controller for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2001. The respondent agrees with the finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Page 3
Management enforce the policy that no employee shall allow another to use their purchase card. The recommendation has been implemented. The Internal Audit staff will continue to perform audits of the Purchasing Card Program. One of the audit steps includes checking for the use of a purchase card by someone other than the one to whom the card was issued.
F3 Page 1
The Stanislaus County Mid-Year Report presented to the SCBOS indicates the need to make budget adjustments due to increasing costs, as well as anticipated revenue reductions. Adjustments are necessary, primarily due to the State's projected financial deficit, which will greatly affect the revenues the County will receive. The respondent agrees with the finding. STRIVING TO BE THE BEST COUNTY IN AMERICA The Honorable William A. Mayhew, Presiding Judge of the Superior Court Auditor-Controller's Response to Civil Grand Jury 2001-2002 Final Report
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Page 3
Purchase cards with limits of $5,000 or more must be approved in writing by the department head, the Auditor-Controller, and the CEO. This written policy needs The recommendation requires further analysis. All purchasing cards, regardless of limit, are approved by the department and a member of the Auditor-Controller's Office administrative staff. Purchasing Cards with limits of $10,000 or more are approved by the Chief Executive Officer. Analysis of this recommendation will be completed
F4 Page 2
Those employees interviewed and those whom the Grand Jury visited during the internal purchasing card audit procedure were aware of the County Purchase Card Program and Policies. The respondent agrees with the finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Page 3
The County develop criteria to reduce the number of outstanding credit cards—thirty-four percent (34%) of all County employees currently have a credit card. A review of card limits with appropriate reductions should occur annually. The recommendation has not been implemented but will be in the future. A listing of individual cards will be provided to department heads for their review and verification. Any card no longer needed will be canceled.
F5 Page 2
There are thirty-one (31) departments in the County that have purchase cards. As of February 26, 2002, there are 1,673 employees that have active purchase cards. Some employees have more than one active card. The respondent agrees with the finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Page 3
The internal auditors review the process for cancellation of purchase cards when a County employee resigns, retires, or transfers to another department, or when a card is lost or stolen. These cards are to be returned to the Auditor-Controller's Office and immediately deactivated. The recommendation has not been implemented. This review will be included as one of the audit steps and will be performed by the Internal Auditors during the scheduled Purchasing Card Audits for the 2002-2003 fiscal year.
F6 Page 2
The CEO has verbally directed the Auditor-Controller's Office to obtain his approval for all purchase card limits over $10,000. The respondent agrees with the finding. No cards with limits higher than $10,000 have been issued subsequent to the CEO directive.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
Page 3
Travel and expense forms be consistent within all County departments. The Sheriff's Department has established an excellent model for expense reports that could be used. The recommendation requires further analysis. The County, at one time, used a generic travel and expense form. It was recognized that the generic form was not meeting the needs of all departments. We will be identifying specific items that must be included on all travel and expense forms. Compliance to this requirement will be verified during credit card audits. Required information will include: The Honorable William A. Mayhew, Presiding Judge of the Superior Court Auditor-Controller's Response to Civil Grand Jury 2001-2002 Final Report Estimate of all costs broken down category: Transportation Meals Lodging Registration Purpose and dates of trip Destination
F7 Page 2
As of February 2002, eighteen (18) departments had issued 1,677 purchase cards with a combined credit of $5,168,500. Sixty-seven (67) of those cards have limits exceeding $5,000 distributed as follows: $ 6,000 $ 6,000 = 1 at 7,000 = 42,000 6 at 7,500 = 67,500 9 at 8,000 = 2 at 16,000 10,000 = 340,000 34 at 15,000 = 15,000 1 at 20,000 = 40,000 2 at 25,000 = 25,000 1 at 30,000 = 120,000 4 at 50,000 = 300,000 6 at 70,000 = 70,000 1 at The respondent agrees with the finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
Page 4
Travel and purchase card transactions of all department heads, including the CEO, be approved by their respective supervisor(s). The recommendation will not be implemented. It is not reasonable to require the Chief Executive Officer or the Board of Supervisors to approve travel and purchasing card transactions for appointed department heads. Travel and purchasing card transactions are included in the audits of Purchasing Cards.
F8 Page 2
The majority of the departments' purchase cards are kept in a locked drawer or cabinet as recommended by the County. These cards are maintained by a designated employee. The respondent agrees with the finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R8
Page 4
Receipts for all meals showing date, place and amount must be attached to time cards when requesting reimbursement. An explanation of the business activity should be included along with names of others in attendance. The recommendation requires further analysis to determine the additional impact on departments and their staff. This analysis will be completed within the next six months.
F16 Page 2
The internal purchase card audit discovered two (2) transactions for meals that were charged by a Library employee on a purchase card. These same transactions were also reimbursed through the payroll system in the same amounts. The respondent agrees with the finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F18 Page 2
A 2002 internal audit discovered that seventy-three (73) receipts were missing out of 2,155 transactions. Of those departments with missing receipts, thirty-one (31) were from the office of the CEO. The majority of all receipts were found at a later date and given to the proper individual, but they were not available at the time of audit. The respondent agrees with the finding. The Honorable William A. Mayhew, Presiding Judge of the Superior Court Auditor-Controller's Response to Civil Grand Jury 2001-2002 Final Report RECOMMENDATIONS:
No recommendations for this finding

Agency Responses 2

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No Responses Found 1

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Stanislaus County Auditor-Controller Elected County Office

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.